Lee's Ledge: November 2024

I occasionally write reviews for the book review site Reader Views.

It is a great site that helps new and mostly self-published authors (such as myself) to be reviewed. The philosophy of the site (and of Sheri Hoyte, who is the main curator of the site) is to be firm, honest, but gentle if possible. Because these are new and often unedited authors, their prose isn't always the most scintillating. And - those who live in glass houses etc. - Reader Views has also reviewed my stuff - which I include at the end of the list below.

I sometimes verged on being a bit mean - especially if the content was unartfully titillating or was too blatantly riding the coattails of current events - you know - "ripped from the headlines" stuff. But I take the job seriously - I am paid an honorarium for each review. I am currently taking a break from reviewing for the site, as I am working on a new project and recovering from the election, but I hope Sheri will let me return to join her cadre of reviewers down the road.

I have learned a great deal doing this - about spotting mistakes and weaknesses in my own work by seeing them appear in others - but also I find some really innovative narrative techniques that push the boundaries, yet often do work very well. And the ideas presented or the characters portrayed are often very unstereotypical, and can be boldly crafted. One other reason I am taking a break is that it is hard work. Because I get paid, I take it very seriously. I read the novels closely, taking notes, and writing and revising the reviews to provide some value to the authors as well as their potential readers. Anyway - if you are looking for new fiction (and non-fiction too) to read and support authors who deserve a chance to be read - check out Reader Views to look for some interesting titles.

Here are my reviews.

Mutually Beneficial - a blackmailer has sexually provocative pictures of the Vice President

The Encounters of Quintas Livius - A young, orphaned Roman living in Israel arrives late to Jesus’s miracles

Splendors of Quanzhou, Past and Present -a history, as well as an archaeological and architectural tour of the Chinese city

The Serpent Underneath - Describes a “Near Term Dystopia”—what can happen to our society and country if, in the next twenty years or so, things go off the rails.

The Evolution of China’s Anti-Poverty Strategies - A collection of 20 stories about Chinese people who have risen from poverty to have successful careers.

The New Empire - set in Northern California in the mid-1700s, alt-history of how the Chinese beat Europe to the punch during the 15th century’s Age of Discovery.

Casadora Island - A burnout retreats to a Caribbean Island - a story of rediscovered love, and a dreamscape of escape, an idealized vision of the perfect life with wonderful friends

Vietnam was a Just War - An unabashed rejection of any viewpoints sympathetic to North Vietnam or the Vietcong or anything critical of the US.

The Intrepid Brotherhood - A memoir of a long running bureaucratic knife fight between the author, an IT systems manager, and his organization’s CEO

No Peace with Hitler - is a 700 page survey of Churchill’s life and why refused to parley with Hitler in the spring of 1940

The Plot to Save America - Springtime, 2024 – the January 6, 2021 insurrection succeeded – the rioters broke through, captured and killed Vice President Pence, set the Capitol on fire, where half of congress died, and the other half were put in detention.